The Last Luna Standing

chapter 18

Tamara

The cool evening air brushed against my skin as I stood near the edge of the window, watching Beta Kain slip quietly past into the woods.

For days, something had felt off, and tonight, driven by a sudden, reckless curiosity, I decided to find out why.

I pulled my sweater tighter around myself and stepped out past the door and started following his trail into the shadows of the tall trees.

The forest was eerily quiet. As I moved deeper through the bush, trying to keep a safe distance so that he wouldn't notice me, a strange realization hit me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

I hadn't seen a single patrol wolf.

Usually, the Night Sword pack borders were heavily guarded by warriors shifting and running the perimeter, especially after dark.

But tonight, the woods were completely quiet and empty. Still, I kept going with my heart hammering against my ribs as I hurried to keep up with his distant footsteps. I stopped for a moment to actually realise how silly I was. He was a wolf and if he was conscious enough, he would have noticed that someone was following him, but he hadn't. Or maybe he did and he just didn't care?

I quickened my pace, stepping over a thick root, when a heavy hand clamped over my mouth and a powerful arm banded around my waist, yanking me violently backward into the dark shadows of a massive tree.

Panic surged through me, and I started thrashing wildly, kicking and throwing my elbows back to fight off my attacker.

"Stop moving," a low, familiar voice growled right beside my ear.

I froze. Even whispered, the tone was unmistakable.

I twisted around in his grip, shoving his chest as soon as he let go of my mouth. "What the hell are you doing here?!" I whisper-yelled, glaring up at him through the dim moonlight.

North stared down at me, his dark eyes flashing with irritation. "I could ask you the very same question, Tamara. What the hell are you doing wandering the woods alone after dark?"

"I was following Kain!" I hissed defensively, crossing my arms. "He's been sneaking out here, and I wanted to know why. What are ‘you’ doing here?"

North looked irritated by the question. He looked back toward the dark path where Kain had disappeared. "I was doing the exact same thing."

I stared at him, completely baffled. "If you knew he was sneaking out, why haven't you confronted him yet?"

"Because," North muttered, his voice dropping into a dangerous, frustrated register, "I don't know why he keeps going into the woods lately. Even outside our borders. But I know he is not doing something bad. But I will soon find out. Now is not the time to blow his cover." He reached out, grabbing my arm lightly to turn me around. "Come on. We're going back to the pack house."

I pulled my arm back. "I can walk."

"It's too dangerous out here right now for you, and you're moving too slow," North commanded. "Shift. We can run back and reach the pack house much faster."

I hesitated, but the cold weight of the forest and the absence of the patrol wolves made my wolf whine in agreement. I took a step back, let go of my human form, and shifted into my wolf. North shifted instantly beside me, his massive midnight-black form towering over the underbrush.

We took off side by side, bounding through the dark trees at a very fast pace. I had to put in the extra effort to meet up with him, or maybe he was just being slow to help me keep up.

But the weather turned against us almost immediately. The sky opened up with a sudden, violent crack of thunder and heavy drops of rain began to rain down through the trees, turning into a downpour within seconds.

The mud slicked beneath our paws, and the howling wind made it nearly impossible to see the path ahead.

Realizing we couldn't make it back to the pack house safely in this blinding storm, North let out a sharp growl and swerved off the main trail, diverting us deeper into the thickest part of the woods.

I followed closely behind his massive black form until we broke through a wall of heavy pine branches and found a small, wooden cabin hidden deep in the forest. It was a good looking cabin, but it looked completely abandoned and dark.

North pushed the heavy wooden door open with his snout and nudged me inside.

Once we were safe from the rain, with a familiar crunch of muscle and bone, North shifted back into his human form. Water dripped from his dark hair down his broad, bare chest. He ran a hand over his face, shaking the rainwater from his eyes before looking down at me.

"Wait here," he ordered, his voice echoing slightly in the small, dusty room. "There should be some old supplies or spare clean clothes left in the other room. I'll get you some dry clothes to wear."

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked out of the room, pulling the inner wooden door shut behind him.

Left alone in the dim, cold room, shivering from the icy rain, I decided I couldn't sit there dripping wet. I closed my eyes and let the shift take me, returning to my human form. The air in the cabin felt freezing against my bare skin.

I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, shivering as I waited for him to knock on the door with the clothes he promised.

I stood near the center of the room, listening to the heavy patter of the rain against the roof.

Suddenly, the door swung open.” Here are the clothes…”

I gasped, turning around just as North barged back into the room, holding a bundle of dry fabric.

His eyes locked onto me. The words died in his throat. He stopped dead in his tracks, his gaze sweeping slowly down my completely bare body before snapping back to my wide, shocked eyes.

The air in the small cabin instantly becoming dangerously hot.